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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
More like 3.5 stars.
I enjoyed the premise and the parts where the captain was struggling with his feelings of guilt about being alive when all the people he previously knew were long dead. The idea of being somehow brought "back to life" in the future in a strange world was interesting.
What I didn't enjoy as much were the actual space battles. Way too detailed descriptions of how fleets of ships were maneuvering and how the battle was slowly progressing. I found those sections boring and skimmed past them.
Also the side characters were for the most part forgettable.
I enjoyed the premise and the parts where the captain was struggling with his feelings of guilt about being alive when all the people he previously knew were long dead. The idea of being somehow brought "back to life" in the future in a strange world was interesting.
What I didn't enjoy as much were the actual space battles. Way too detailed descriptions of how fleets of ships were maneuvering and how the battle was slowly progressing. I found those sections boring and skimmed past them.
Also the side characters were for the most part forgettable.
Firstly, the audiobook of this is excellent. Made for a great book to listen to during a long drive.
Jack Campbell puts a useful forward at the start of this book about how his experiences in the navy informed how he wrote the space battles, and it definitely feels that way. The story is about a famous (in world) captain who was recovered from cryosleep after 100 years and is immediately thrust into the position of taking over a fleet that's fleeing from an overwhelming enemy. As far as I can tell the whole series (not just this book) is about that escape, though I don't know how much the sequels mix it up.
Overall, the plot here feels a bit simple, and the ending lacks a strong sense of payoff; it seems like the story just sort of got cut off partway, as if the series were meant as one single book, but I really don't know. And although the concept of a man out of time struggling with others treating him like a legend is interesting, it did get old retreading that ground after a while. However, the exploration of combat strategy in space was consistently fascinating, and the internal politics of the escaping fleet provides plenty of fun conflict. One of the main themes of the story is leadership, and I think it's handled pretty well even if the main character is competent enough to feel a bit like a Mary Sue.
Jack Campbell puts a useful forward at the start of this book about how his experiences in the navy informed how he wrote the space battles, and it definitely feels that way. The story is about a famous (in world) captain who was recovered from cryosleep after 100 years and is immediately thrust into the position of taking over a fleet that's fleeing from an overwhelming enemy. As far as I can tell the whole series (not just this book) is about that escape, though I don't know how much the sequels mix it up.
Overall, the plot here feels a bit simple, and the ending lacks a strong sense of payoff; it seems like the story just sort of got cut off partway, as if the series were meant as one single book, but I really don't know. And although the concept of a man out of time struggling with others treating him like a legend is interesting, it did get old retreading that ground after a while. However, the exploration of combat strategy in space was consistently fascinating, and the internal politics of the escaping fleet provides plenty of fun conflict. One of the main themes of the story is leadership, and I think it's handled pretty well even if the main character is competent enough to feel a bit like a Mary Sue.
I dunno.
There's parts of me that really did not like this book. It's rigid, preachy, and Campbell uses the political and military figureheads stationed on Dauntless as devices to allow him to explain things to the reader. There is a LOT of telling, and very little showing. And the ending is incredibly abrupt. I mean, my audio book ended and I was like, "Am I missing a file or something?" kind of abrupt. The tension's lackluster and the descriptions of battle are..well. Yeah. Lackluster's the right way to describe the book.
That said, there was something that made me come back to it. I dunno, I was interested in whole process. But it really made me long for some David Weber.
It's been a long time since I've been this ambivalent about a book. Usually it's either, "Hey, this is cool, I'll keep reading it," or, "Wow, this is awful, I'm done." :/ Anyway. Yeah.
Edited to add: I started reading Fearless a week or two later, and after the first encounter and Rion following Geary to his quarters to exposit to, I just quit. I cannot stand poor character development and characters created solely to service the plot.
There's parts of me that really did not like this book. It's rigid, preachy, and Campbell uses the political and military figureheads stationed on Dauntless as devices to allow him to explain things to the reader. There is a LOT of telling, and very little showing. And the ending is incredibly abrupt. I mean, my audio book ended and I was like, "Am I missing a file or something?" kind of abrupt. The tension's lackluster and the descriptions of battle are..well. Yeah. Lackluster's the right way to describe the book.
That said, there was something that made me come back to it. I dunno, I was interested in whole process. But it really made me long for some David Weber.
It's been a long time since I've been this ambivalent about a book. Usually it's either, "Hey, this is cool, I'll keep reading it," or, "Wow, this is awful, I'm done." :/ Anyway. Yeah.
Edited to add: I started reading Fearless a week or two later, and after the first encounter and Rion following Geary to his quarters to exposit to, I just quit. I cannot stand poor character development and characters created solely to service the plot.
Really good book.
I love the idea of a mythical hero being resurrected from the past and kicking ass and taking names. The plot is more than captivating. The only small drawback is that the fast paced action doesn't lend itself for any in-depth character development. Black Jack is the only person that I really feel like I know his motivations. Part of that could be purposefully though, the main character is separated by a hundred years from his current peers.
Looking forward to more installments.
I love the idea of a mythical hero being resurrected from the past and kicking ass and taking names. The plot is more than captivating. The only small drawback is that the fast paced action doesn't lend itself for any in-depth character development. Black Jack is the only person that I really feel like I know his motivations. Part of that could be purposefully though, the main character is separated by a hundred years from his current peers.
Looking forward to more installments.
I loved this book and look forward to the next one
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Audible Frontiers has so far done a bang up job of producing accessible and quality productions of recent and classic science fiction and fantasy works and their release of Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet: Dauntless is no exception. One of my favorite things so far is that they often include an introductory note by the author (true for this audiobook and for Mike Resnick’s Starship series) that give a little bit of background information on how the title came about and some of the thematic notions that spurred the authors into writing what they did. For Dauntless, Campbell explains that one of his inspirations were the notion of ancient heroes and particularly the Ten Thousand. In terms of the former Campbell focuses his attention on John “Blackjack” Geary. Geary, who secured a victory in the opening phases of war with the Syndicate was subsequently believed dead. Flash ahead a century or so and the novel opens with Geary, whose cryochamber has recently been discovered finds himself struggling to adjust to living again. Of course it’s more than that as those hundred plus years have served to transform what was a simple desperate battle for survival on Geary’s part into something much more mythic and turning the man into a legendary hero.
Much of Dauntless focuses on Blackjack’s attempt to reconcile his own humanity with the mythic image that his person evokes in the present day. Unfortunately for Blackjack Geary he soon finds himself at the head of the fleet, forced into a head on collision between John Geary the man and Blackjack Geary the legend. The “man-out-of-time” trope (or as TV Tropes refers to it “Fish out of temporal water“) is a time honored classic and one that Campbell elevates to a different level by turning our newly awakened lead into a bonafide legend, worshiped and adored by those around him. Such a juxtaposition would be difficult enough on an average day but throw in the fact that fleet suddenly finds itself trapped behind enemy lines, nearly at the heart of Syndic territory, and the tension and angst generated by that confrontation is heightened.
While a picked up Dauntless more or less looking for a classic tale of militaristic space opera what I got was that and something a bit more. By tossing in that Rip Van Winkle aspect together with something like a folk hero Campbell adds a wonderful new dimension to the story. The focus of Dauntless remains squarely on John Geary leaving the novel, for all its desperate flight and large scale battles, feeling as much a character study as anything else. There are a stable of characters that surround Geary they all seem to serve more as foils than well-rounded counterparts. Some begin to emerge as something a bit more by novel’s end but they never quite feel complete. The focus on Geary meant that his inner struggle could have distracted from the dire straits of the titular lost fleet. Thankfully I found the inner struggle was so tightly interwoven with Geary’s believed tactical infallibility, and his ability to lead, that the quest to return home almost felt like a physical manifestation of that struggle.
Narrator Christian Rummel does a great job with the reading. I found him especially adept at conveying emotion through tone, particularly where Geary was involved. While the novel doesn’t leave too much room for Rummel to show his skills at dialogue, this is not a novel of witty banter, what little he does get to do comes off quite nicely and I was presently surprised at his facility in pulling off female characters, and provided distinct vocal quirks for each. I certainly look forward to future Lost Fleet novel’s read by Rummel.
Dauntless was a satisfying book to listen to. The struggle of John Geary one that is both intellectually and emotionally engaging. Campbell’s skill at narrating space battles serves well enough (though it doesn’t come quite on par with say David Weber) the most curious aspect being the sort of detached feeling and lack of emotional involvement with the other individual members of the fleet. Campbell lays some other interesting groundwork regarding other forces at work in Syndic space walking a fine line between wild speculation and plausible deduction leaving me eager to see how that aspect of the series plays. I can easily recommend Dauntless for an easy and entertaining listen that is a fascinating combination of the well tread and the wholly original.
Much of Dauntless focuses on Blackjack’s attempt to reconcile his own humanity with the mythic image that his person evokes in the present day. Unfortunately for Blackjack Geary he soon finds himself at the head of the fleet, forced into a head on collision between John Geary the man and Blackjack Geary the legend. The “man-out-of-time” trope (or as TV Tropes refers to it “Fish out of temporal water“) is a time honored classic and one that Campbell elevates to a different level by turning our newly awakened lead into a bonafide legend, worshiped and adored by those around him. Such a juxtaposition would be difficult enough on an average day but throw in the fact that fleet suddenly finds itself trapped behind enemy lines, nearly at the heart of Syndic territory, and the tension and angst generated by that confrontation is heightened.
While a picked up Dauntless more or less looking for a classic tale of militaristic space opera what I got was that and something a bit more. By tossing in that Rip Van Winkle aspect together with something like a folk hero Campbell adds a wonderful new dimension to the story. The focus of Dauntless remains squarely on John Geary leaving the novel, for all its desperate flight and large scale battles, feeling as much a character study as anything else. There are a stable of characters that surround Geary they all seem to serve more as foils than well-rounded counterparts. Some begin to emerge as something a bit more by novel’s end but they never quite feel complete. The focus on Geary meant that his inner struggle could have distracted from the dire straits of the titular lost fleet. Thankfully I found the inner struggle was so tightly interwoven with Geary’s believed tactical infallibility, and his ability to lead, that the quest to return home almost felt like a physical manifestation of that struggle.
Narrator Christian Rummel does a great job with the reading. I found him especially adept at conveying emotion through tone, particularly where Geary was involved. While the novel doesn’t leave too much room for Rummel to show his skills at dialogue, this is not a novel of witty banter, what little he does get to do comes off quite nicely and I was presently surprised at his facility in pulling off female characters, and provided distinct vocal quirks for each. I certainly look forward to future Lost Fleet novel’s read by Rummel.
Dauntless was a satisfying book to listen to. The struggle of John Geary one that is both intellectually and emotionally engaging. Campbell’s skill at narrating space battles serves well enough (though it doesn’t come quite on par with say David Weber) the most curious aspect being the sort of detached feeling and lack of emotional involvement with the other individual members of the fleet. Campbell lays some other interesting groundwork regarding other forces at work in Syndic space walking a fine line between wild speculation and plausible deduction leaving me eager to see how that aspect of the series plays. I can easily recommend Dauntless for an easy and entertaining listen that is a fascinating combination of the well tread and the wholly original.